The South African Table Grape Industry (SATI) has announced its first crop estimate for the 2025/26 season, forecasting a high-quality harvest with volumes sufficient to meet market demand.
Chairperson of SATI, Alwyn Dippenaar, said the industry expects inspected export volumes for the 2025/26 season to increase by approximately 0.6% compared to the actual inspected volumes for the 2024/25 season.
He explained that the forecast represents a 6.6% increase over the five-year average, positioning South Africa to maintain a reliable supply to global markets.
“A national crop estimate of 79.4 million cartons is anticipated, with the upper limit expected at approximately 81.7 million cartons and the lower limit expected at approximately 77.0 million cartons, respectively.
“Good winter conditions prevailed, with sufficient chill units to support even budbreak and adequate winter rainfall to increase dam levels favourably, which bodes well for water availability in a normal season,” he said.
New grape varieties drive growth
According to Dippenaar, compared to the five-year average, lower estimated volumes in the northern provinces and Olifants River regions are due to 14% and 5% reductions in total planted area, respectively.
“The Berg River region’s anticipated volume is expected to remain closely aligned with the five-year average. Total planted area in the Orange River and Hex River regions remains in line with the five-year averages.
“Overall, moderate growth in volumes, if compared with the five-year average, indicates stabilisation of total table grape hectares planted. While there has been a slight decrease of 0.4% from 2024, bringing the total to 19 400 hectares in 2025, this figure represents stabilisation at just 3% below the five-year average.”
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Meanwhile, SATI stated that production volume growth is driven by higher yields from new plantings of new generation varieties.
Mecia Petersen, chief executive officer of SATI, said South Africa is well-placed to provide a consistent, quality crop that meets global consumer preferences to all markets.
“This commitment to consistency and quality, as well as maintaining South Africa’s position as a preferred country of origin for global markets, is supported by the ongoing development and use of SATI’s prescriptive logistics model.
“The model leverages value chain data to forecast optimal routes to market and generate regional scenarios that inform on-farm decision making,” she said.
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